10 Chinese Idioms to do with Animals

There’s one thing that Chinese isn’t short of and that’s idioms 成語（成语 chéng yŭ）, so much so that we can even break them down into sub categories. For the moment, though, we’ll have a look at one category of idioms – those to do with animals. Each idiom lists the pronunciation, the translation, and most importantly examples of how the idiom can be used so you’ll know how to use it yourself!

EnglishExperts believe that this medicine is very effective, and if used sensibly can exhibit lots of hidden effects, possibly killing two birds with one stone.

3. 亡羊補牢（亡羊补牢）

Pinyin: wáng yáng bŭ láoEnglish: to fix the pen after the sheep are lost; to close the stable door after the horse has boltedNote: The usage of this idiom is a bit different than the English equivalent, with the Chinese version often meaning ‘better late than never’, which would alter the meaning of the example below. If anyone has any thoughts on the usage of this idiom please comment below.

EnglishIn light of the injuries caused by a fire at Ala pub, Taichung City Tourism Board is effectively closing the stable door after the horse has bolted by working with the fire department to increase fire control safety checks and education for the tourism industry, hotels, and hostels.

4. 漏網之魚（漏网之鱼）

Pinyin: lòu wǎng zhī yúEnglish: to slip through the net; the fish that escaped the net

English
Hsinchuang government officials indicated that after the promotion to ‘New Taipei City’ specialists checked department websites for places where the name had not been changed, though some still slipped through the net. So the purpose of this activity is to have Internet users help by finding places where the name has yet to be changed to ‘New Taipei City’.

5. 馬馬虎虎（馬馬虎虎）

Pinyin: mǎ mǎ hŭ hŭEnglish: careless or casual; not so good; just so so

EnglishThe white hot competition in the market has caused most Internet company’s profit to be barely enought to continue existing, the ability to develop and expand is extremely rare

9. 池魚之殃（池鱼之殃）

Pinyin: chí yú zhī yāngEnglish: to be caught in the crossfire; to be inadvertently affected – “fish pond calamity”, from a story of fish who were inadvertantly killed as the water from their pond was drained to extinguish a fire

EnglishApple not only brings orders to Taiwanese factories, after benefitting from the continued sales of the iPhone, iPad and Macbook Air, Taiwanese stocks are also in love with Apple. All you have to do is move up the supply chain, and stock prices will also follow suit and ride on the success.